Irish Creamy Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) president Denis Drennan has called on farmers to remain vigilant of the risks posed by foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) after an outbreak was confirmed on Friday in Germany.

FMD was confirmed by German authorities in a herd of water buffalo in the state of Brandenburg in the first detection of FMD in that country since 1988.

Drennan stated that he hopes the outbreak is quickly contained and called on Irish authorities to take all precautionary measures necessary to minimise the risk of the disease entering Ireland.

The ICMSA leader called on those traveling to or from the Brandenburg area – just outside Berlin – to follow authorities' advice in relation to importing food items which may pose a FMD risk.

Complacent

“Obviously, as an island, we should not be impacted by this outbreak, but that can’t allow us to be in any way complacent or reluctant to follow the advice of the experts”, he said.

The outbreak was confirmed by Germany’s national reference laboratory for FMD at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut.

The institute warned that illegally imported animal products from areas of the world where the virus remains endemic poses a “constant threat to European agriculture”.

These areas include Turkey, the Middle East, Africa, parts of Asia and regions of South America.

Foot-and-mouth disease outbreak confirmed in Germany

ICMSA urges vigilance after foot-and-mouth outbreak in Germany

Illegally imported animal products from affected regions pose a risk to introducing the virus to Ireland.